The Campus Entrepreneurs Initiative
Source: The Campus Entrepreneurs Initiative
The Campus Entrepreneurs Initiative is designed to dramatically enhance Jewish life on campus. Each campus employs 12 students with broad social networks to build relationships with more than 700 uninvolved Jewish students over the course of a year. In the pilot year, the Campus Entrepreneurs on 7 campuses engaged more than 3,200 uninvolved students.
Each Campus Entrepreneur is charged with building relationships with 60 uninvolved Jewish students on campus. Serving as a resource to meaningful opportunities or potentially a friend in challenging times, the Campus Entrepreneurs strive to advance Jewish values in the context of their relationships.
The Campus Entrepreneurs strive to understand students' interests, passions, and aspirations - and connect them to opportunities that they may find meaningful and engaging.
Campus Entrepreneurs are given a budget to plan initiatives that identify them as relevant and Jewish, enable them to meet uninvolved Jewish students and follow-up with them in an authentic, comfortable, and open way. Initiatives have the dual purpose of attracting uninvolved students and advancing Jewish values.
The Campus Entrepreneurs provide on-going relationship-building, especially as follow-up to immersive and meaningful experiences such as Taglit-Birthright israel trips, Alternative Break trips, etc.
The Campus Entrepreneurs Initiative is on select campuses that have a significant Jewish population. This year 12 campuses are participating in the initiative.
Hillel recently received its largest grant ever of $10.7 million from the Jim Joseph Foundation to support and expand The Campus Entrepreneurs Initiative.